"They were talking state after we beat Litch. We don't know what we're doing yet."

Beier is a 43-year-old who helped organize the team. He's a teacher and head baseball coach at Foley High School. And, indeed, he does know better, having been a part of state championship teams in Regal and Granite Falls and having been a player for the Watkins Clippers for the past decade.

On Sunday, the right-hander tossed a complete game, scattering nine hits, striking out five and walking one.

He made the most of a strong wind that blew straight in from center field, throwing strikes and knowing home runs would be hard to come by.

The winds from the south, which gusted to 29 miles per hour, made fly balls adventurous.

But there were very few.

"He throws well," Clear Lake manager Sam Samuelson said of Beier. "It's not that hard, but he located well."

"They had a pretty decent pitcher," said Keeler, 21, and a 2011 Foley graduate. "Other than that, this is all new to us.

"We don't know much."

Foley's last amateur baseball team was the Foley Outlaws, who played in the Victory League and struggled mightily.

How mightily? The Outlaws lost their first 81 games before beating Opole in an exhibition game. Victories were few and far between before the Outlaws folded after the 2010 season and an eight-year run.

Things are a lot different this time. The Lumberjacks opened Sauk Valley League play with a pair of victories over the Litchfield Blues. And then there was Sunday's win at Goenner Park against the Lakers, who have played in the past two state Class C tournaments.

"We've been down twice and come back," Beier said. "That's a real good sign. We don't give up."

They are young. Four high school players were in the lineup. There were a few veterans, including Mike Hess, who played with the Outlaws and started at second base Sunday.

"It's more of a team here," Hess said. "Before, everyone kind of shot out (after games).

"We were more (slow-pitch) softball. There's dedication here."

"We're more dedicated to baseball," Lumberjack Mark Randolph said.

For all the good things that happened, Foley nearly lost because of the good work of Matt Korte.

The right-hander, a 2010 St. Cloud Apollo graduate who just wrapped up his senior season at Division II Minnesota-Crookston, allowed six hits, including three in the ninth. He struck out nine and walked one after pitching 57 innings at UM-Crookston and also getting 121 at-bats for a team whose coach was let go after a 1-47 season.

"They made some nice plays," Samuelson said of the Lumberjacks. "Give them credit."

"We played real solid defense," Beier agreed.

Samuelson pointed to a scoreless fourth inning that was the difference. Clear Lake loaded the bases with one out and singles from Kyle Sytsma, Jason Kotschevar and Jake Samuelson, but failed to score.

The Lakers did push one run in the seventh. Breitkreutz reached on an infield hit and went to second on R.J. Cervenka's sacrifice bunt. Brett Stinogel's infield hit put two runners on. Then, Chase Aleshire singled home Breitkreutz, but was thrown out trying to go to second when the throw went to third.

Clear Lake (1-1 Sauk Valley, 2-2 overall) plays at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at St. Joseph and then at 1:30 p.m. at Litchfield in a pair of league games.

The discovery process for Foley continues at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Sartell when it plays the defending state champion Muskies.